Bond strength of a universal bonding agent and other contemporary dental adhesives applied on enamel, dentin, composite, and porcelain

Abstract

Abstract The aim of this study was to compare the bonding ability of a universal dental adhesive (Scotchbond Universal/SBU, 3 M ESPE) and other contemporary dental bonding agents applied to different substrates: enamel, dentin, resin composite, and porcelain. SBU was tested using both the etch-and-rinse/ER and self-etch/SE bonding approaches. The other adhesives tested were Scotchbond Multipurpose/SBMP (3 M ESPE), Single Bond 2/SB (3 M ESPE), and Clearfil SE Bond/CLSE (Kuraray). Specimens of each substrate were prepared for microtensile bond strength test/μTBS (dentin and composite) or shear/SBS test (enamel and porcelain). In composite and porcelain, negative (no treatment) and positive (silane + SB) control groups were tested. Data were analyzed using One-Way ANOVA and Tukey’s test (α = 0.05). In enamel, SBU resulted in similar SBS (p ≥ 0.458) compared to all other adhesives (SBMP = 19.0 ± 10.2B; SB = 26.6 ± 9.3A; CLSE = 26.0 ± 8.5A; SBU-SE = 23.5 ± 8.4AB; SBU-ER = 22.6 ± 9.9AB). In dentin, SBU showed similar results to all other materials (p ≥ 0.123), except SB (p ≤ 0.045), which showed the highest μTBS (SBMP = 35.4 ± 10.5AB; SB = 39.4 ± 11.2A; CLSE = 36.6 ± 10.9AB; SB-SE = 28.1 ± 13.7B; SBU-ER = 26.9 ± 7.4B). In resin composite, SBU and the positive control presented similar μTBS (p = 0.963), and were higher than the negative control (p ≤ 0.001) (SBU = 28.4 ± 9.9A; positive control = 29.5 ± 11.7A; negative control = 12.1 ± 8.7B). In porcelain, SBU had higher SBS than the positive control (p = 0.001), which showed higher SBS (p < 0.001) than the negative control (SBU = 29.0 ± 6.9A; positive control = 21.0 ± 7.0B; negative control = 5.3 ± 2.7C). Equilibrium of adhesive and mixed failures occurred in dentin and resin composite, whereas a predominance of adhesive failures was observed in enamel and porcelain. In conclusion, the bonding ability of the universal adhesive was comparable to the other contemporary bonding agents tested, although it was dependent on the substrate evaluated. Universal adhesives seem to have potential applicability in adhesive dentistry.